SoxFanForsyth

More than that. I think DMac may have earned himself the starting job in RF or LF while Crawford is out. Ride that hot streak.

Best sign from Bards start - 2 walks. Very solid.

Bard settled in nicely. 5 IP, 69 pitches, 3 ER. Give me 1 more inning and put up a QS. Take that all day, every day.

Hahaha. Can I get a GIF of that last swing by Escobar??

To be honest - the ball jumps off his bat a lot like ARod. When I say that, I mean that when he hits the ball, it looks like it's just going to be a lazy pop up, and the ball just carries and carries on him. Tons of power, and it's very smooth, effortless power. Bard looking shaky now.

Holy crap. Bautista missed that slider by 4 feet!!!

Damn. Lavarnway is going to be a special player when he finally gets called up. And that should be this season. I don't think his defense is much worse than Saltys at all.

If you ask me, I say Bard to rotation along with Doubront, although at the same time, I would be just fine with a guy like Aaron Cook holding down the 4th slot if he can manage a 4.1-4.2 ERA only because a bullpen with Bailey, Bard, Aceves, Melancon, Padilla (until Rich Hill), Morales, and Albers seems very, very strong. In terms of Iglesias - Put him at SS all day long. Every single day. The upgrade that Aviles will bring offensively isn't nearly as significant as the upgrade that Iggy brings defensively, and if there is any team in baseball that needs extremely strong defense up the middle, it's the Red Sox. With Pedroia/Iglesias/Ellsbury, I don't think there would be a team in baseball with stronger up-the-middle D. No telling how many hits that could save, which equates to runs saved, which equates to more innings, and thus less innings for our bullpen. Finally - Lavarnway. I never understood the Shoppach signing. Made zero sense to me. We have a guy in Lavarnway who started game 162 last season, the absolute most important game of the entire season. Now our FO is saying he needs more seasoning? Come on, that's pretty ridiculous. Cook or Bard as #4 man, Doubront as #5 man. Lavarnway and Salty splitting duties as C. Iglesias as everyday SS.

Holy s***. 78 pitches in 6 innings?? 13 pitches per inning is ridiculous. He could have easily gone 7-8 with that. Very well done. Good update, VA - I was curious about his pitch count.

Doubront: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 ER. That's a very solid outing for him. Solid work - Has to have the #5 spot all but locked up at this point.

Bottom of the 9th, down by 1? Francona is still playing for a 3 run homer when we only need 2.

All I want is Cook's 2008 season. 160 IP, 4.15 ERA, 11 wins. Just give me that, that's all. I don't need you to be an 18 game winner, 230 IP, 3.10 ERA. Just give me 160 or 165, 4.15-4.20 ERA, and 11-13 wins. You get that from your #4 and you keep your top 3 healthy, this team wins the AL East.

that's funny - in my MLB 12 The Show franchise, Ortiz got hurt (broken ankle - out for season) so I traded some A ball closer for Dunn straight up and they accepted it. I was playing the Marlins in Miami and the game was tied up 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th, man on 2nd. I PH Dunn for Cody Ross, and Dunn went yacka. Won the game 4-2. Glad he's hitting well. He was my last round pick up in fantasy as well.

I'm growing fond of this. But if we're going to have a sinkerball pitcher and a young kid to protect from getting rattled, we need Iglesias's defense up the middle.

He better be ok.

Not anymore!! I think the wheels fell off on that slide!!

Hahaha. Papi booking it. Slides hard into 3rd and the throw came into 2nd hahaha.

Aaron Cook gets so many ground balls it's ridiculous. If he finds his way into the rotation this season, Iglesias better be at SS. That would be fun to watch

Which is exactly why Iglesias belongs at SS all season long. Defense up the middle is crucial to a teams success. Iggy, Pedey, and Ells will help this pitching tremendously. Just look at Iglesias today - made a great play to get a guy out in a pickle between 2nd and 3rd then flipped to 2nd to nab the guy trying to go from 1st to 2nd. Got Lester out of the inning and saved anywhere from 5-15 pitches, which could be an inning. One good thing is that Shoppach is an excellent defensive catcher. He'll be playing vs LHP, which is quite a bit considering Moore, Price, Romero, and Sabathia in the division. That's good - he'll be able to hold down the Rays from running all over the Sox this year.

AL East Red Sox Ray Yankees Blue Jays Orioles Reasons: Pettitte's return is not a coincidence. I think the Yankees brass is very concerned with Pineda's lack of velocity, and Nova has not thrown the ball well at all this spring. Can't count on Hughes after last season. As of right now, I think the Sox top 3 is much better than the Yankees top 3, which consist of a proven ace in Sabathia, and 2 guys in Kuroda and Nova/Pineda/Hughes/Garcia who all are significant question marks based on history within division or the quality of their stuff thus far in ST. The #4 and #5 are a wash. AL Central Tigers Royals Guardians Chicago Twins AL West Angels Rangers Mariners A's Postseason Play In: Rays over Rangers. NL East Miami Philadelphia Atlanta Washington New York NL Central St Louis Cincinatti Milwaukee Chicago Houston NL West San Francisco Colorado Los Angeles San Diego Postseason Play In: Philadelphia over Cincinatti

Wakefield + Weiland + Miller + Lackey + Bedard = 450 SP Innings of 5.90 ERA baseball. Yes. The Red Sox are in better position because the #4 and #5 starters will outperform what that crew did last season. To say that they won't is completely obnoxious.